Introduction
Bill Gates once compared the auto industry with the computer industry by stating "If GM had kept up with the technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon." However, in today's technology driven society, the automotive industry is forced to adhere to the demands of the computer industry in order to remain a viable facet to the world economy. As a result of this technological revolution, companies such as B&M Racing are now finding themselves dependent on revenue via e-commerce as their primary source of income. B&M Automotive Products was founded by Bob Spar and Mort Schuman (B&M) in 1953, and has become the world's largest supplier of performance shifters to OEMs and tuners in both the United States and Europe. In order to achieve such success in today's economy, one's website must thoroughly address all aspects relative to web-based consumerism. Therefore, upon analyzing such a website, details referencing audience and purpose, design, usability, and credibility must all be taken into consideration in order to effectively create a comprehensive website review.
Audience and Purpose
B&M's website is dedicated to the sale of the company's aftermarket racing products as well as the promotion of the motor sports industry. Therefore, the majority of the users who access the site are motor sports enthusiasts seeking parts or ideas for their latest projects. Originally, B&M limited its product line to be applicable solely with American made muscle cars. This isolated the company's clientele to muscle-car aficionados; the majority of whom were American middle class males. However, due to the internet's global audience, bmracing.com has enabled the co...
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...f the motor sports industry. However, the site contains no external links, aside from those soliciting events sponsored by B&M. This may indicate a shortcoming in the site's intended purpose of fostering appreciation of the sport and instead promotes only its own site. Some of the ways in which I would improve this site include making the website more applicable to consumers less familiar with automotive terminology as well as declaring which subsections are embodied within each particular link. A combination of compounding links and unsystematic organization subsequently causes user confusion with regards to accessing specific information contained within the site. Despite minor flaws in the basic infrastructure of the website, bmracing.com has proven a viable asset to B&M. In today's e-commerce community, bmracing.com is truly to par with the industry standard.
The growth of online business has grown enormously over the years. Cliptomania is a family operated and owned small e-business that primarily sells clip on earrings (Brown, DeHayes, Hoffer, Martin, & Perkins, 2012, p. 308). Cliptomania early developments were very modest, and as such the company experienced copious strategic dilemmas. An initial strategic dilemma that the company encountered when establishing and building their new e-business undertaking was to create a website for the business operations and essentially to have it fully operable. The owners, Jim and Candy elected to hire a vendor to host the website and additionally utilize the IT systems resources of the vendor to sustain their business. At the very beginning they exploited the offerings of the Yahoo Store. However, continuing down this avenue of using the services of the Yahoo Store inevitably became too costly. By using the services and business offerings of a vendor made it convenient and effortless for Jim and Candy to start their e-business store. Unfortunately the couple did not have much in the way of professional help, and so they had to create and put together the website by themselves. Additionally they also had to deal with establishing their online credibility as many customers preferred to call in their orders just to talk with a real person before being comfortable enough to place their orders via the webpage.
It takes an abundance of responsibility to be a part of a racing team. An interview was conducted with Mr. Ricky weeks and he stated what he does as a driver. “The team be...
About 75 million people have watched NASCAR. About 12.66% watch NASCAR and follow it one way or another. The other 10.49% (34 million) will know a racer or two. In a period of 10 years (1996-2006) sales have shot up over $2,199,999,400. The sales have gone from 600/year-2.2billion/year. These both show that it is a very popular sport and growing in popularity.
In 1960, the American car landscape itself had expanded as Detroit began offering “compacts” alongside their full-size models. Many drivers, however, were looking for something in between these full size and compact model; this interest gave way to a new class, the intermediate. With many innovations between 1960 and 1964, like the 406 cubic inch V8 from Ford, the 389 from General Motors, and the wedge V8s from Chrysler, the golden age of muscle cars began in 1964. The Pontiac Tempest G...
Montana Mountain Biking Company has been in business for 16 years providing guided mountain biking trips at four locations in Montana. The success of the company is linked to retaining its customers. Eighty percent of the customers who sign up for the one week guided mountain biking expedition are repeat customers (University Of Phoenix, 2007). An important part of any marketing plan is to understand the customer relationship because ultimately, all profits come from the customers. The challenges facing the Montana Mountain Biking company is not only retaining customers but to attract new customers. The advances in e-marketing have given Montana Mountain Biking some alternatives to traditional marketing plans.
The world of technology is ever changing and advancing. With the automotive industry in play technology is constantly surpassing what is available today with what can be done for tomorrow. Technology and the automotive industry go hand in hand with constant improvement to components of cars. Due to technology advancement there is competition within the car industry, especially between American car companies and European car companies. European car companies provide their buyers with innovative variety and revolutionary luxuries. European car technology is superior to American car technology due to their safety, entertainment, and luxury features.
This case study is about “Specialized Bicycle Components Inc.” known as Ride the Red “S”. Specialized was founded in 1974 by Mike Sinyard. According to Chris Murphy, director of marketing for Red “S”, specialized is for serious riders. He says, “The customer is buying the ride from us, not just the bike.” The company began to produce its own bike parts by 1976, and introduced the first major production mountain bike in the world in 1980. Specialized now has an extensive global distribution network of 5000 retailers in 35 countries in Asia, North America, South America, and Australia. They maintained a reputation as the technological leader in the bike and bike accessories. The formal mission is still the same since they established the company “To give everyone the best ride of their life.”
James McDowell, vice president of marketing at BMW North America, Inc. must design Phase II communication strategies for the launch of the new BMW Z3 roadster. The program follows an “out-of-the-box’ pre-launch campaign centered on the placement of the product in the November 1996 James Bond movie, Golden Eye, and including other “non-traditional” elements such as a product appearance on Jay Leno’s Tonight show, an offering of a James Bond Edition Roadster in the Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog, and large scale public relations activities. McDowell must assess the effectiveness of the pre-launch activities and design marketing tactics that can sustain product excitement until product availability in March.
These same sorts of systems could easily be added to, or modified as needed, to track the new motorcycle lines HD will produce to attract both women and young adults. These systems have been an invaluable means for HD to reevaluate itself in the past and thus are ‘tried and true’ making it a moot point to replace them. HD, however, needs to concentrate some effort on implementing a system to determine the most appropriate locations for future dealerships. This new evaluation system will aid HD in determining effective locations for new dealerships and assist in providing further market share penetration for the company in essentially ‘untapped’ consumer areas.
There are many factors involved in Marketing a new product in a particular market in the UK. However, there are essential basic marketing steps and strategies ‘Goldsport’ can take to make their product successful and this will require a good understanding of each one. This will enable the company to analyse and asses each factors and Identify the benefits and drawbacks that can later have an impact on the process and progress of the new product (The SmartTrainer).
During the 1970's, HD was facing a decline in market share due to increased competition with Japanese companies. By phasing out weak models, becoming more selective, and limiting sales and promotions, HD was able to carve out a niche in the marketplace which it enjoys today. Now again faced with a period of decline, HD is relying on its newly adopted marketing objectives. First, HD needs to expand its potential customer base to include enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts young males, and females into buying HD motorcycles over any other competitor. This thought is accomplished through the introduction of the VRSC’S, and the lower and narrow Sportsters, Dyna’s, Softail’s and positioning them in the market to a younger demographic. Secondly, HD needs to position the VRSC’S, Sporster, Dyna and Softail to also appeal to first time buyers of motorcycles. HD's strong brand identity can help pull in new clients.
There are three separate market segments: road bikes, mountain bikes, and youth bikes. Each of these segments range in differences such as size, price, product sensitivity, product preferences, and consumer viewing habits. Frequently, customers were interested in finding the lowest price to fulfill their needs. Our firm speculated the upgrading the mountain bike would encourage our customers to spend more money for a better quality bike; however, we discovered that customers were not interested in paying the extra money for an improved bike.
Where there is rapid growth comes increased competition; similarities in products across manufacturers have reduced brand differentiation across the board. The problem now is the severe rise of copycat companies and manufacturers that copy designs and specifications of cars, and proceed to undercut the original manufacturer’s profit margins. So to improve their brand standing, every manufacturer’s individually have resort...
Schmidt, J. (2010, September 29). Strategy and targets of mercedes-benz cars sales and marketing. Retrieved from http://www.daimler.com/Projects/c2c/channel/documents/1931898_Daimler_UBS_Paris_DJSchmidt_Handout.pdf
Market Segmentation, Positioning and targeting for BMW 1.1 Introduction This report aims to examine the market segmentation, positioning and targeting of BMW (automobile company). BMW will be examined giving information about the company and where it is now and any recommendations that we feel are appropriate. 1.2 BMW Company Profile BMW was formed in 1917, from the merger of two small aero engine makers. Their famous blue and white symbol stems from the colours of the Bavarian Luftwaffe and is said to resemble the view of the one of their plane through a propeller. BMW is renowned for its sporty, sophisticated & luxury image which has been built up since the 1970's with many motor sport victories ranging from Touring Car to Formula 1.